


Order

by SerMisty



Series: PolyPearls [26]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blue Pearl is mute, F/F, Multi, This is fluff, White Pearl Theory, coffee shop AU yes you heard that right, headcanon: human!yellow flirts like a straight white boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7657432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerMisty/pseuds/SerMisty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>«Are you just going to call me with ingredients names until I throw this notebook on your head?»</i>  </p><p>When the cute girl started flirting with her, Pearl didn't imagine it would have ended up with such secondhand embarrassment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Order

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Restourant Wars - I swear almost every single episode inspires me a polypearls fic help - because waitress!Pearl was too amazing not to do a fluff polypearls fic about it.  
> (Sorry in advance because I'm sure some verbs are wrong - writing in past tense in english is harder than I remembered)  
> I hope you enjoy!

«May I take your order?» 

After months of serving tables, Pearl could brag to have heard almost every possible response to this question, from the most obvious to the most uncomfortable. She could brag to have become skilled in reading people’s faces, and know in which point of the spectrum their answer would fall.  
So, when the young woman with hair tinted of a bright yellow raised her head and smirked, Pearl immediately knew that this was going to be a long shift. 

«You can take whatever you like, sweetie». 

Pearl struggled not to roll her eyes at the _very much cliché_ comeback. Customers are always right – at least until they keep their hands to themselves, not like that creepy old politician-wannabe that she didn’t regret to have left with a broken plate on the head. 

«I suggest the daily special» she went on, choosing to ignore. «There is probably no better way to start the morning than-»  
«No need to be so nervous, honey. I don’t bite». 

The only reason Pearl didn’t reply was the mental reminder of how desperately she needed to keep this job. Garnet was still in training and Amethyst had been fired – again – so her pay was the only thing that allowed her and her two roomies to afford the small apartment they lived in. She had already gotten a couple of cuts on her salary – see the politician-wannabe of before – and she really didn’t want to hear Amethyst’s comments if she ever got fired for being catcalled. 

«We also have a discount on-»  
«Aren’t you cute when you blush, sugar». 

Well, screw this. 

Pearl slammed the hand on the table, clearing hearing the crack of the pencil she was holding. The fifth one, this week. Mostly because she bit them out of anxiety, though. She always had a stock in the back pocket. 

«Are you just going to call me with ingredients names until I throw this notebook on your head?» 

She was expecting a loud offended reply that would have caught her manager’s attention, but it didn’t come. The young woman frowned instead, looking surprised – pleasantly surprised – and then laughed.

«Actually, I planned to keep going until I had no ingredients left. You stopped me just in time». 

This was one reaction that Pearl hadn't predicted, and her face probably showed it, because the woman went back to that playful smirk that seemed to be her favorite expression. Pearl felt herself blushing at how easy was she to read, so she stood uptight, recovering the two pieces of the pencil and slipping them in the front pocket of her white jacket. 

«So, what do you want to eat?» she sighed, hoping the digression had now ended. Just one normal day, was it demanding too much?  
«I’ll just have a coffee. No» the woman corrected herself, «make it two».  
«Are you waiting for someone?» Pearl asked, and this time she was prepared to the responsive grin. But she didn’t have time to specify that she was asking simply because she had to know if to bring another cover to the table.  
«Maybe. Or maybe I’m just inviting you to sit here and chat with me».  
«Yeah» Pearl rolled her eyes openly this time. Did she really think she was original? If she had a dollar for every time she had heard that line she could have probably bought her apartment, and _goodbye rent deadlines_. «That’s not happening».  
«Ouch. Why not?»  
«I’m working, first of all, and that’s only one of a long list of reasons that include a lot more swearing than I’m used to do». 

The young woman laughed again, and her laugh echoed in the café, almost empty given the early lazy Saturday morning. She looked impressed, and if she had to be honest, Pearl was too – she was surely getting skilled in her witty comebacks. 

«Alright, I get that my first impression was a disaster» the woman admitted. «Mind if I try again?» 

She stretched her hand and smiled, a smile that still appeared as a grin, but less playful and more sincere. It didn’t look so threatening, nor displeasing. 

«Good morning. I’m Yellow». 

Pearl shouldn’t have continued this conversation. She should have walked away and brought back the two coffees the woman had asked without even looking at her in the face, but Pearl was also extremely curious and the only other customer was sitting at the opposite side of the room eating his pancakes. 

«Your name is Yellow?» she tilted her head, giving in to curiosity. 

The woman snickered. 

«Nickname».  
«So what’s your name?»  
«I’m sorry, you need to be at least at level 4 of friendship to unlock my secret identity». 

_A straight-out nerd_. Amazing. As if she didn’t spend enough time around Amethyst’s girlfriend already.  
Of course, in some way, Pearl could have been considered a nerd, too.  
And of course, this _Yellow_ was objectively cuter than Amethyst’s girlfriend. 

«I’m Pearl» she sighed, resigned and ready to regret everything, as they shook hands.  
«Do you want a nickname, too? I can find you one in a second».  
«I really don’t-»  
«What about White? Your shirt is white. Yeah, I like that».  
«You’re not very creative» Pearl frowned.  
«You use what you have» Yellow shrugged. «So, am I forgiven for my previous attempts at catching your attention?» 

She wouldn’t call that _catching her attention_ , but Pearl smirked anyway, finding it surprisingly easy to reply to her grin with a similar expression. 

«It depends on the tip, I suppose».  
«Who could have guessed that you were so materialist?»  
«Two coffees, coming in». 

She turned around and walked away – Yellow’s eyes followed her until she disappeared behind the counter.  
Preparing the coffees, Pearl found herself weirdly cheerful. What she believed would have been the start of a terrible day, was going on quite decently. As the door ringed, informing her that a new client had entered, Pearl decided that maybe she could accept Yellow’s invite to sit and chat with her for a while. 

(Amethyst would have laughed at her for days; she had predicted a similar encounter since the first day of her job). 

Then Pearl turned around and saw. 

The client that had just entered was a beautiful girl in a light blue dress, which matched with the color of the hair that half-covered her face. With a wide, gentle smile, she walked all the way across the room and _sit down at Yellow’s table_. 

For a split second Pearl stood there, watching, confused, until Yellow smiled at the girl, leaned over the table and kissed her.  
The cup of coffee almost slid from Pearl’s hand. 

_That attractive stupid flirty lemonhead had a girlfriend_. 

The initial shock was quickly replaced by anger and embarrassment. _Of course_ she had a girlfriend, nobody comes in a bar for breakfast on a Saturday morning with such an attire if they’re not waiting for someone. And she was even about to fall for it! Stupid, stupid, stupid.  
She kept watching as Yellow talked – she could only see the back of the other girl, but she didn’t appear to be saying anything – and her face heated up when Yellow had the courage, _the nerve_ , to shoot a glance at her and smirk. 

She was going to _destroy_ her.

Coffees, first. 

Pearl held the two cups with one hand and with the other grabbed the cutlery and a napkin from the open drawer next to her. She didn’t even try to hide her frown as she walked towards the table, and with her flaming stare fixated on Yellow – _if only looks could kill_ – she basically slammed the cups on the table. 

«Your order». 

Both of them jumped, but Pearl didn’t notice the blue-haired girl’s reaction, not even as she – just slightly calmer – put cutlery and napkin in front of her. Yellow, however, was still grinning, and it took Pearl all of her self-control not to use that fork for something worse. 

As she walked away, her back turned, she heard Yellow snicker. 

«She’s probably having a bad day». 

_Just burn your tongue with the coffee._

Her hands closed in fists and she was just about to turn around and told her off once and for all, but right in that moment the only other client waved his hand and called, «Waitress!».  
And she could have ignored him, she _would_ have ignored him, but two loud coughs from the counter made her stop: her boss was staring at her, nodding in direction of the customer, clearly not wanting any type of reply. 

Pearl barely held in a loud, stressed sigh. 

_And Yellow was still snickering_. 

The customer wanted to pay, which was a good thing, and at least left her a good tip. The digression also helped Pearl calm herself a bit, and when she walked back to the counter, she didn’t glance at the table where the two girls were sitting.  
She pulled out a cloth and started cleaning the bench – not because there was a real need, but because cleaning always had a soothing feeling on her. 

Then she raised her eyes and the blue-haired girl was right in front of her.  
She jumped, blushing, startled and embarrassed. 

She was even more beautiful up close. Her eyes were barely visible under her bangs, but her smile – Pearl had never, in her life, seen a smile so sweet. It lighted up her face and all the surroundings.  
The girl tilted her head, showing just a glimpse of her eyes, then raised her hands and gestured something. 

_Excuse me, where is the restroom?_

Luckily, between all the different kinds of lessons and studies that Pearl had taken – dancing, piano, fencing, engineering – there was also a class of sign language. She blinked a couple of times, just enough to bring her mind back on Earth, and then gulped.  
The neckband of the shirt was suddenly too tight. 

«This way, last door on the right» she answered, saying the same thing with her hands simultaneously. Her movements were a little jerky, a little rusty, but the girl’s smile grew wider and she thanked her with a sign and a gentle bow of her head. She moved a lock of hair behind her ear – Pearl took a breath that was louder than she intended, and didn’t even care.  
The girl then disappeared in the direction Pearl had showed her. 

Once she was gone, Pearl hid her face in her hands to try and soothe her embarrassment – why had she to be so cute? – and then, all of sudden, a new jolt of anger rushed in her veins.  
Looking at the table, Pearl saw Yellow: the young woman was sipping her coffee, lost in thought, staring out of the window. 

If Pearl was going to tell her off before, there was really nothing and no one that could stop her now. 

Especially since her boss was nowhere to be seen. 

She walked towards her, and Yellow didn’t notice. Yellow didn’t notice until Pearl reached her and slapped the back of her head – Yellow bent over and spit the coffee on the table. 

«What the fuck?!» she yelled, coughing, looking up. The spark in her eyes showed that she wasn’t expecting to see Pearl. « _What the fuck?!_ I could have choked!»  
«You would have deserved it» Pearl replied, frowning, arms crossed. «What are you doing?»  
«Trying to breathe again, fucking hell…»  
«No, I mean, _what_ are you doing? I cannot believe you would cheat on that girl!» 

Yellow beat on her chest a couple of times and then looked up again. On her face slowly grew the grin that Pearl had already learned to know. 

«I think you’re jumping to conclusions too fast, White».  
«Don’t call me like that» Pearl replied. «You were flirting with me-»  
«And it was working».  
«-and you have a beautiful girlfriend! Why would you ever want to cheat on her? I don’t understand!»

Pearl blushed before even noticing the amused and wicked light in Yellow’s eyes. 

«So you think my girlfriend is beautiful» she smirked.  
«I-» this wasn’t going as well as she was expecting, «Everybody with eyes could tell that. It’s not the point».  
«No, you see, it’s exactly the point. We-»  
«I don’t want to hear your lame excuses» Pearl shut her up. «She doesn’t deserve to be treated like this. And I will tell her!» 

It should have been a threat, but Yellow actually started laughing with sincere hilarity. 

«I’m looking forward to it» she raised one eyebrow. 

As if she had been evoked by their conversation, the blue-haired girl walked back to the table in that instant. She stopped in front of Pearl, a puzzled smile on her face, and tilted her head.  
Pearl bit her bottom lip, hesitant. 

Was it really her place to ruin a relationship out of principle? 

«Blue, the waitress has something to tell you» Yellow snickered. 

Yes. Yes it was. 

The girl – Blue? Was it another nickname? – tilted her head again, on the other side, and smiled gently, waiting.  
Pearl coughed a couple of times. 

«Miss, I’m sorry to tell you but your girlfriend has attempted to flirt with me while she was waiting for you» she revealed, her face beat red. It was a lot more embarrassing then she predicted. «I think you deserve to know». 

Blue clearly frowned for a second, and looked over Pearl’s shoulder with a confused expression.  
Pearl heard Yellow snap her tongue behind her. 

«Don’t look at me. She didn’t give me time to explain». 

Pearl would have interpreted it as an attempt of saving her face, but the calm and amusement in her voice were unmistakable. Furthermore, Blue covered her mouth and giggled silently.  
It was Pearl’s turn to be confused. 

«What?» she asked. Didn’t she believe her? Was it because she was blushing? Did she have something in her teeth? 

Yellow started laughing too. For a moment, the two seemed to forget that Pearl was here. 

«I told you that you should have been the one to make the first move» Yellow snickered. «I was too straightforward».  
«Excuse me?» Pearl felt her face heat up even more than she thought it was possible. She had the horrible feeling of being in the middle of a well organized prank. 

Yellow tried to stop her laughter, mostly failing. 

«Blue has spent a whole week staring at you from out of the window before we decided to talk to you, White» she said. «Since we’re on the subject, good move with that creep the other day. I approve».  
«Don’t call me – _what?_ » and Pearl turned around, and then around again, and she didn’t know what to think anymore. 

Blue scratched the back of her head, an awkward and sweet smile on her face.  
Pearl blinked a couple of times. 

«I’m confused» she admitted.  
«I told you not to jump to conclusions too quickly» Yellow winked – _winked_! Pearl’s knees went weak for a second. «I wasn’t technically cheating». 

It took a while, but then all the pieces of the puzzle slowly started to fall into place in front of Pearl’s eyes. 

«Oh» she said. She stopped. _Oh_. « _Oh_. So – you are-»  
«Poly. Poly» Yellow pointed at herself, at Blue, and then smirked at her direction. «And poly, too, given the way you’ve been looking at both of us». 

Talk about being easily read. 

Pearl didn’t move, a bunch of memories flashing in the back of her mind – pink curls and long talks about sexuality and _it could have worked, but not with him, or maybe not,_ and – and then Blue surpassed her to reach Yellow and pull her sideburn. 

«Hey!» she complained. «Okay, I shouldn’t have immediately talked about labels – yeah, alright, you told me, sorry!»  
«It’s fine» Pearl said, her voice just a little high pitched. «Anyway, I – I need to go». 

The counter wasn’t as far away as she desired, but it would have been good for a while. She hid there, almost burying her face in the coffee machine. 

A normal day. Just one. One that didn’t include cute girls flirting with her and embarrassing misunderstandings and really cute girls that- 

Well. After all – she needed to think about it a little more to decide if it was a terrible day or simply a weird embarrassing morning. 

«So, hey». 

Pearl still had her face pressed against the coffee machine when they called her, and she jumped and turned around to meet Yellow and Blue on the other side of the counter. She was glad to see that she wasn’t the only one blushing. 

«For the coffees» Yellow put a couple of bills on the counter. «Plus your tip. You earned it. We didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable». 

Blue nodded quickly to support her assertion. 

Pearl could have taken both the money and the opportunity to end this situation once and for all – but she took only the bills, instead, and smiled. 

She wasn’t really thinking. It just felt right. 

«You didn’t make me uncomfortable» she replied. «I was just surprised. That’s all». 

The reassurance made Yellow’s smirk appear again. Pearl thought she liked it. 

«Good, then» she leaned over the counter a little. «And would it make you uncomfortable if we asked at what time your shift ends?»  
«What for?» but the reason was obvious, and Pearl knew, and kept smiling.  
«So that we don’t have to wait out here all day, and we can just come back at the right time to bring you to dinner». 

Pearl rolled her eyes. 

«You _really_ should let your girlfriend flirt at your place» she teased.  
«I know!» Yellow replied, and nudged Blue as if finally someone agreed with her. Blue chuckled. 

Pearl smiled, and sighed.  
Honestly, this was all Amethyst’s fault. Yes, it was. She had been the one to put all these _meet in a café and fall in love_ ideas in her mind. 

«My shift ends at six» she said.  
«Great» and Yellow winked again, and Blue smiled, and Pearl blushed and _this really was Amethyst’s fault_. «We’ll be here». 

Pearl could only raise her hand and wave back as they walked away, linking arms with each other, the ring of the bell echoing in the now empty bar.  
She leaned against the counter, smiled, and then sighed again.

No, she could not consider this a bad day. And she was looking forward to see how it would end.


End file.
